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Where's the care about Rays' ways?

SHELTON E-mail: Click here Archive

By GARY SHELTON

© St. Petersburg Times, published September 8, 2000

By now, there was going to be a crackle in the air. By now, we were going to be wondering if they could go all the way.

Each day, we were going to gather at our water coolers and discuss the great plays we had seen. We were going to measure victories and vantage points, and we were going to anticipate opponents and matchups. Every game was going to feel heavy, like something significant. Every day, the voltage would increase.

This is the way we feel about the Bucs.

This is the month we were supposed to feel it about the Devil Rays, too.

This is September, the month they were going to make their wild charge toward the wild card. This was the time we were supposed to care very much about the Bucs on Sunday (this is a football state, after all), but very much about the Rays the rest of the time. They were going to be playing big games for big stakes with big stars. As Brando (Marlon, not Tim) said, they were gonna be somebody.

Remember before the season, back before Vince Naimoli became a media critic? He sat in his office one day, and looked out toward the field, and said, "I'd be very disappointed if we didn't make a run." We can assume he is. He can assume we are.

How disappointed? That's the big question.

The Rays are in last place, in the division and in your hearts. The Hit Show was the biggest flop since they tried to make Stephen King's Carrie a musical. The old guys are too old and the young guys are too young, and the Rays are somewhere in between. The extra money infused into the payroll didn't even purchase fourth place.

So where is the outrage? Where is the impatience? Where is the primal howl to the moon? Why don't more people seem frustrated, angry, even curious about this resumption of fortune?

In some ways, that is the most disappointing thing at all. No, not because heads need to roll, not necessarily. But because there is not sufficient passion to demand it.

In Arizona, they are already calling for Buck Showalter's job, and the Diamondbacks are still in the race. Showalter, it seems, has a list of silly rules (Hey, Curt. Your socks aren't ironed!) that drives his guys wiggy, and already, the movement has started to get him shoved out the door. Other places, the Dodgers have their hands on Davey Johnson's back, and the Pirates on Gene Lamont's, and the teams are getting ready to shove.

So why aren't people asking for answers here? Is it the fire fans around here lack, or the expectations? Was it obvious to everyone but Vince, Chuck and Larry (and me, to be honest) that this team was going to live in the cellar again?

If I ran the Rays, last place would not bother me any more than the acceptance of it. I would want someone screaming for heads now. I would want outrage, because it beats the heck out of apathy. In baseball, who wants to go down quietly?

Look at it this way. As an owner going into Thursday, Naimoli is 191-272. As a general manager, Chuck LaMar is 191-272. As a manager, Larry Rothschild is 191-272. So is everything dory, not to mention hunky?

In some ways, the Rays are like every losing team you have ever seen, and around Tampa Bay we have seen a bunch. They talk the same way. They use the same cliches. They see how far the team is from .500, and they halve that, then they point to the 10 games that got away, never noticing another 10 they were lucky to win.

They blame injuries, because losing teams tend to gamble on older guys lasting one more season. They point to close losses, because losing teams tend to pile those up. They talk about free agents who didn't work out, because most of them don't. They talk about youth. They talk about bad bounces and bad calls and bad karma.

This is where we are with the Devil Rays. And the key question is not who got the team into this mess, but who can possibly get it out?

Naimoli? If the Rays mattered more, there would be more discussion of the owner and how he sees the future. Remember when the Rays traded Steve Trachsel? When they waived Jose Canseco? Both were moves to get out from under payroll, a direction that fans of Tampa Bay sports know a little about. So what happens in the future? Does Naimoli dive into the talent-rich free-agent market this off-season? Or does he pronounce his fingers burned, the fans hopeless, and look to the kids? The bottom line seems to be this: The Rays, rightly or wrongly, aren't going to draw unless they win. And in baseball, you don't win unless you spend.

LaMar? If the Rays mattered more, wouldn't his name come up more often? He's the guy spending the owner's money, after all. Give him credit for Greg Vaughn and Gerald Williams. Blame him for Vinny Castilla and Wilson Alvarez. Argue whether his reputation as a reluctant trader is merited. Hey, we all have hindsight. General managers are paid for foresight. Isn't that worth a discussion on a weekday morning?

Rothschild? Is it all his fault? Of course not. When the Mets lost, it wasn't Casey Stengel's fault, and when the Yankees didn't win enough, it wasn't Dick Howser's. Firing a manager is rarely about whether the guy knows what he's doing. Consider the guy the Mets fired in 1981, who was 134 games under .500. His name was Joe Torre, who knows a little bit about the game. Torre moved to Atlanta and replaced a manager who was 57 games under .500. His name was Bobby Cox, who also has won a little bit since. Often, replacing a manager is the hope that a new voice, a new direction can help. Shouldn't Rays' fans be discussing such things about now?

By now, the Rays should be irked over the Cleveland series, since the Indians are the wild-card front-runner. By now, they should be talking about the slump of the Red Sox, and whether it could help the Rays close the gap. They should be talking about the final homestand of the year, against the Yankees and Boston. They should be able to talk about home runs and complete games and pitching matchups.

With all of that taken away, they could at least have the common courtesy to be ticked off.

They could at least care enough to care.

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